On the Treatment of Decayed Potatoes, $ 559 
the bar of a grate or in a nick of a tree, and the stool, upon which 
the towel containing the pulp is placed, below the broad part of 
the spade : the handle of the spade is then pressed downwards, 
and by this means a powerful lever is obtained, and the water 
flows out freely from the pulpy mass. It may then be mixed 
with half its weight of oatmeal and a little salt, and be at once 
converted into good palatable cakes on the griddle. The moist 
mass may also be dried and ground into meal. This substance, 
which may be called potato whole meal, can be used in making 
bread, soup, or pottage. It must l)e borne in mind that cold cakes 
or bread would be a miserable substitute to the peasant for hot 
potatoes : on this account soup or pottage ought to be given along 
with the bread, and this whole meal makes a very agreeable and 
economical soup, when mixed with some bacon or herring. At 
all events I can testify that I partook of an agreeable soup with- 
out knowing from what it had been made, and found on inquiry 
that it was made of this potato whole meal, a little bacon, salt, 
and pepper, and that the total cost of its production was l^d. for 
5 pints. 
This leads me to the consideration of an important point con- 
nected with any expected scarcity. Should any such misfortune 
assail us, it is of the first importance that we should act advisedly 
and not ignorantly in our endeavours to alleviate it; and we can 
only do so by a thorough knowledge of the nature of different 
aliments. 
In setting a steam-engine to perform daily work, we are well 
aware that there are two conditions to enable it to perform its duties. 
In the first place, we must supply fuel to convert water into 
steam, and we must keep the ergine itself in thorough repair, 
iminediately repairing any failures in its piston, its cranks, or 
wheels, and seeing that all the parts are kept proportionally 
strong for the work to be performed. We know that the coal, 
which answers admirably for fuel, would be most inappropriate 
for the repairs of any damaged part of the engine itself. Just so 
is it with the machinery of the animal frame. It requires fuel to 
keep it in action, and it requires materials of a different kind to 
repair the damaged parts of its frame. The conditions of sus- 
tenance are therefore very different, and the kind of aliment de- 
pends upon the want to be supplied. For example, the hard- 
working man requires to be supplied freely with those materials 
necessary to build up his muscles, for these are partially destroyed 
with each exertion. The labourer, who has much hard work to 
perform, must eat a very large quantity* of potatoes to get through 
that work, while a much smaller quantity by weight of oatmeal 
* An adult labourer must eat 14 lbs. of polatoes per day to got through 
a good day's work. 
